Washington ESD asking about fictional unemployment on my claim - what does this mean?

That sounds really strange. I've never heard of Washington ESD using the term 'fictional unemployment' in any of their official communications. Are you sure that's exactly what the letter says?

I think there might be some confusion here. Washington ESD doesn't typically use the phrase 'fictional unemployment' in their standard correspondence. Could this be referring to something else like 'fictitious employer' or maybe there's a translation issue? What exactly does the full context of the letter say?

Honestly, trying to reach Washington ESD by phone is nearly impossible these days. I spent 6 hours on hold last week just to get disconnected. If you really need to talk to someone there, I recently discovered this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that actually gets you through to Washington ESD agents. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Might be worth checking out if you can't get through the normal way.

This sounds like it could be a scam letter. Fictional unemployment isn't a real Washington ESD term that I know of. Have you verified this letter is actually from them? Check the return address and phone numbers against the official Washington ESD website.

I work in HR and deal with unemployment claims regularly. I've never seen Washington ESD use the term 'fictional unemployment' in any official capacity. This could be a mistranslation, a clerical error, or possibly a fraudulent document. I'd strongly recommend calling Washington ESD directly to verify before taking any action.

Could this be related to work search requirements? Sometimes Washington ESD asks for clarification if they think you've reported job applications that don't exist or something like that.

ive been on unemployment for 8 months and never heard of this fictional unemployment thing. sounds sketchy to me honestly

Maybe it's a new term they're using? Washington ESD changes their procedures and terminology pretty regularly. But I agree it sounds weird and you should definitely verify it's legitimate before responding.

This happened to my neighbor last month but it turned out to be a scam letter. The address looked official but when she called the number on the letter, it wasn't actually Washington ESD. Be really careful with this.

Whatever you do, don't give any personal information until you verify this is legitimate. If it is a scam, they might be trying to get your SSN or other sensitive information.

I'd suggest going to your local WorkSource office too if you can't get through by phone. They might be able to help you verify if this letter is legitimate or connect you with someone at Washington ESD.

Just to add another voice - I've been dealing with Washington ESD for unemployment claims for my family business for over 10 years and I've never encountered the term 'fictional unemployment' in any context. This is definitely not standard terminology they use.

If you do need to reach Washington ESD to verify this, I had success using that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier. It's way better than trying to call directly. Their website at claimyr.com explains how it works.

UPDATE: Just wanted to let everyone know I called the number on the Washington ESD website directly and they confirmed that this letter is NOT from them. It's definitely a scam. They said they've had several reports of similar fake letters using this 'fictional unemployment' language. Thanks to everyone who told me to verify it!